Southeastern faves The Producers close out Riverfront Nights - Sept. 13

photo The Producers

IF YOU GO• What: Riverfront Nights concert series featuring The Producers.• When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13; Husky Burnette opens at 7 p.m.• Where: Ross's Landing, 200 Riverfront Parkway.• Admission: Free.• Phone: 423-756-2211.• Website: riverfrontnights.com.• Artist website: theproducersmusic.org.THE OPENERHusky Burnette is a local blues guitarist and singer/songwriter. A fixture at Champy's Chicken during the Bessie Smith Strut, Burnette is known for his foot-stomping guitar-playing and gravelly, howling vocals. For more, visit Reverbnation.com/HuskyBurnetteMusic.ON THE GREENWild Trails, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting local trails, is hosting a running and paddling fitness challenge. Participants will paddle 7 miles between Ross's Landing and Chickamauga Dam or take a 2-mile route around Maclellan Island. An 8-mile, half-road/half-trail run on Stringer's Ridge begins at 5 p.m., and a 5K road run will start at 5:30 p.m. L2 Boards will offer reduced-rate rentals on standup paddle boards and kayaks on-site.

Sometimes, dropping the mike isn't the right move.

In 1985, Atlanta-based new wave/power pop quartet The Producers were in the midst of a pretty deep emotional trough. After producing just two albums, they were dropped by their label, CBS subsidiary Portrait Records.

Despite a catalog of catchy, tightly produced songs that charted well and earned the band a lot of regional popularity, the label's decision left the musicians feeling "frustrated ... and disappointed," says bassist Kyle Henderson.

"There was a lot of bad blood," recalls Henderson, who now lives in Madison, Wisc., where he spends most of his year fronting a new band called Blue Eyed Soul. "That affects your creativity as well because you have all that in your mind as you're trying to write songs and play together."

Henderson describes his time with The Producers as "one of the highlights of [his] life," but in the heat of the moment, he walked away from the band. It's a move, he says, he's regretted ever since.

"I think it was a bad decision," Henderson, now 56, says. "Knowing what I know now as a middle-aged man with a lot of experience ... I would have stuck it out longer and said, 'Let's get past this hump and keep going. Let's keep at this because we're not dead yet.'"

The Producers carried on in Henderson's absence, replacing him with bassist Tim Smith. After signing a new contract with MCA Records, the band released one more album, 1985's "Run for Your Life," and recorded material for a fourth, "Coelacanth," which wasn't officially released until 2001.

But the writing was on the wall. In 1989, The Producers were dropped once again and called it quits in 1991, reducing their schedule to a handful of one-off performance in the Southeast and Midwest each year. Saturday, Sept. 13, they'll take the stage at Ross's Landing as the final headliner of the Riverfront Nights concert series.

Despite shifting their attention off The Producers decades ago, those few dates have come to mean a lot to the band members and fans who have fond memories of songs such as "She Sheila" and "What She Does to Me."

The Producers are remembered well by many, Henderson says, but as a self-described "nostalgia band," their drawing power isn't strong enough to warrant more than the dozen or so shows they perform annually.

Nevertheless, he says, he welcomes any chance to reconnect with his band mates and the musical fraternity from which he wishes he'd never walked away.

"The chemistry is still there," he says. "We still enjoy playing together. It still sounds great.

"These are my brothers; this is my family. Playing these songs is a treat. Watching the audience enjoy it and engaging with the audience afterward is always a treat as well. That's the value of the experience to me."

Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.

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